I was actually thinking about it today and ended up rewatching an utterly engrossing half hour of it, completely heart-wrenching and beautiful. I dislike those Italian neorealism comparisons, it understates the staggering originality of the work. And as far as I'm concerned it surpasses every film that emerged from that movement (although there are a few close ones). Wanna watch To Sleep with Anger sometime? I got a torrent going, am hoping it'll pull through.

I'm not really sure how to answer this. It's not whether or not it's "influential" because then Potemkin, Citizen Kane, Birth of A Nation, and Un Chien Andalou would be the four best anythings. (I guess there can be a difference between "historically important" and "artistically important".)
A film's ability to touch me at a core level? I dunno. Moving without being manipulative and cheap-- intelligent and sensitive without being obnoxious and ostentatious? I guess this question could be answered better if I actually kept up with my media-log writing then we could look at what kind fo things I wrote about that I appreciate about things more fully.
I'm sorry, I'm sure this is all terribly dopey. I don't really have a set list of criteria. If I was going for an out-of-ten scale down to one decimal point, I would have to create some kind of scale to assign points to to be consistent but with this mostly it is just a gut decision (although these gut decisions can take a while to fully formulate anyway).
Again, I'm sorry if that is a very dopey, stupid answer. :c

I was curious because it was difficult for me to see a "method" to your madness (for instance, Mulan and Pulp Fiction being the same rating), and because I would be fascinated to know what your thinking is on this (among others).

Lots of things I haven't seen in a long fucking time are probably less-than-accurate ratings. If I was to create a direct method it would probably still be 60% on emotional affect and thematic ingenuity and genuineness and etc, the other 40 going to technical things.
However
I can't stand Quentin Tarantino he is a smug shallow insincere cunt who wants desperately to seem as cool as possible whose every character is a smug shallow insincere cunt who wants desperately to seem as cool as possible. I feel mostly insulted and manipulated watching his films (The only one where I didn't was Jackie Brown). His characters are often if not always just mouthpieces to his vapid opinions on various pop-culture minutiae. They have nothing to say, are full of nothing but flash with no substance, and they aren't even very entertaining. I can't even really give the relatively unusual structuring of Pulp Fiction a pass because even in that it felt so damn predictable and banal. Inglorious Basterds and Death Proof are two of the worst films I've ever witnessed. If his films are art at all, it's art for bros. *ramble ramble ramble* I'm sorry.
As for Mulan maybe I should rewatch it. Hahaha.